Decorative articles, such as wall ornaments, are often applied to various mounting surfaces, such as walls, using permanent and semi-permanent mountings such as adhesives, nails, screws, tacks and the like. Other types of mountings have been developed for attaching articles to mounting surfaces using non-permanent (removable) and/or re-usable adhesives. Such adhesive mountings often comprise a film substrate having a first surface that may be decorated or has a rigid component attached to the article and a second surface having a removable and/or reusable adhesive covered by a release sheet. In attaching the article to a mounting surface, the release sheet is peeled off and the article is placed against the mounting surface such that the adhesive bonds with the mounting surface thereby securing the article in position.
Various non-permanent and/or re-usable adhesives have been developed that are effective for use with polymers or paper for making annotations and provide an adhesive bond with the mounting surface that permits easy removal of the article from the mounting surface without causing damage to the mounting surface. Unfortunately, such adhesives generally do not have the bonding strength for attaching larger and heavier articles to a mounting surface. Accordingly, non-permanent and/or re-usable adhesives have also been developed that provide the necessary adhesive strength for use in attaching heavier articles to a mounting surface. Unfortunately, such non-permanent and/or re-usable adhesives while allowing the article to be detached from the mounting surface, they often cause damage to the mounting surface when the article is being removed.
Another problem associated with the use of adhesive mountings is that the adhesive often begins to dry over time thereby reducing the ability for easy detachment of the article from the mounting surface. This is particularly true after the adhesive has been in contact with the mounting surface for a significant amount of time.
Heavier articles requiring more or adhesive mountings having greater contact surface areas are often removed from the mounting surface by peeling back an edge of the adhesive mounting and pulling outwardly away from the mounting surface to separate the adhesive mounting from the mounting surface. This peeling process often results in damage to the mounting surface and the likelihood of such damage is increased if the peeling process is performed too quickly or if the article is relatively rigid thereby reducing the ability of the adhesive mounting to bend during removal.
Accordingly, it would be desirable for a method and device that can effectively remove an article attached to a mounting surface by an adhesive mounting; that minimizes or reduces the likelihood of damaging the mounting surface during removal; that is simple to operate; and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.